Ms. Ashby has spent her whole life in the public school system. She was raised and attended public schools in Auburn, Illinois. After high school graduation (class of 1982), she attended Illinois State University to study Speech-Language Pathology. Ms. Ashby received her B.A. in December of 1985 and her M.S. in August 1987 and began her career as a public school speech-language pathologist. For several years, she was employed in three small central Illinois school districts, as the only speech pathologist for 7 buildings of students. During this tenure, she learned to appreciate the different school cultures and to enjoy the quiet time of being "itinerant" (a lot of travel time). She also worked as a National Park Service Ranger at the Lincoln Home in Springfield during summers and school vacations, including helping to develop some classroom curriculum and site visit experiences for elementary school students.　

In 1995, Ms. Ashby relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, where she was employed as a speech pathologist for a school specializing in students with emotional and mental health challenges. While employed there, Ms. Ashby returned to college at Sonoma State University, taking reading and instructional methods courses. During this time, she became a middle school resource teacher for Sonoma Valley School District and returned to Sonoma State to pursue her administrative credential.　

Her first administrative position was as a Program Specialist in Vallejo, CA, overseeing autism programs, speech pathology services, and elementary special education services. While in this position, she enrolled at Chapman State University to complete the CA administrative certification process (California has a 2 tiered credentialing system requiring employment as an administrator before completing the second tier). She then joined the Oakland, CA public schools as the Elementary Program Coordinator for Special Education. In the fall of 2007, Ms. Ashby returned to her Illinois roots and joined the Morton School District as Director of Special Education.

Ms. Ashby is a resident of Morton and enjoys the supportive family atmosphere of our community. She appreciates being close to her parents, who still reside in Auburn, and to her friends in the Springfield area.